Tag: Blessed Mother

Mary, How Did You Behold Him?

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Did you behold Him your child?

You looked in His face, what found you there?

Did you see your self, your eyes, your hair?

Did you behold Him Creator?

Omnipotent God, Who created you.

In His image, was yours there too?

Did you behold Him Spirit?

Did His infant coos, speak to your heart?’

What did you hear. In His word to impart?

Did you behold Him The Word?

The Word Incarnate, who dwelled in your womb.

The Visible Word, who arose from the tomb.

Did you behold Him Healer?

In His fingers grasp, was His power perceived? 

Did you sense the healing, the lepers received?

Did you behold Him Savior?

Did the pulse of His heart, announce our Salvation bought, 

with His selfless love,  on the cross He sought.

Mother Mary how did you ever behold Him?

In a stable in Bethlehem, with angels singing,  

The Son of Man meeting your eyes, 

At rest in your lap…Is God!

Inspiring Thoughts

Second Reading in the Office Of Readings, December 20th

“You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.

The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life.

Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.

Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.

Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord,’ she says, ‘be it done to me according to your word.”

St Bernard

 

I’m Sinful Weak and Sorrowful

 

8868E659-B2E5-499A-BBBE-F3B24F8C708CWhen strong temptations are knocking at my door, I rebuke satan, in Jesus’ name, and turn to Our Lady…pray for us sinners now.  I suppose one could think, but she was sinless, what does she know about sin?  Nothing, but I imagine she knows a great deal about temptation.  I can’t imagine satan leaving her alone, this unblemished lamb, innocent, wholly devoted to God.  Even before she was known to the devil, as the Mother of God, he who couldn’t resist himself, would be tormented by one, who didn’t even glance his way.  Before satan knew she was the Theotokos (Mother of God), her life had to torment him.  Imagine his hatred for Our Lady after the Crucifixion, when he realized who she is.  He tempted Christ; he surely tempted Mother Mary…”God has died in the flesh, and hell trembles with fear” (from an ancient homily on Holy Saturday).  I imagine with her, he was his most cunning, relentless and evil.  So it is, if I need someone on my side, I want the pro.  Our Creator chose Mary to resist the temptations of satan, so much so that She was His choice to carry Christ within her womb, and hold Him in death.  She raised Him to adulthood. He was tortured, disgraced and misunderstood, and Mary, His mother, was present to it all, but without sin.  She watched her son through all of this, without sin.  I’d say if God trusted Mary, to remain sinless, then she would be the one to look to, when temptation strikes.

“So long as she (Blessed Mother) is in your mind, you are safe from deception.” – Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

What’s the difference?

DSC_9237“I knew I could help you, because you’re not a feminist”. This is what my neighbor said to me, when he came over with a shovel, while I was moving a pile of dirt.  Hmmmm?

Feminism: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. (Webster’s Dictionary)

Wait a minute!  I think I am a feminist! I don’t  understand what that has to do with shoveling dirt. My neighbor was being kind, had bigger muscles, and knew rain was coming.  I appreciated his help. He was being funny, not really trying to label me.  It was his way of saying, I didn’t think you’d mind if I helped you. Yes, you can help me anytime!!!

I think, though that we have lost sight of, who we are as men and women.  God created us man and woman in His image.  We are similar, but not the same, and I am grateful for that.  We should be celebrating our differences, yet so often I think we try to negate them.  We as God’s creation are both male and female; this is purposeful.  Both sexes are created in God’s image, so when we degrade the tendencies of either, Who do we think we are insulting?  What we are together, is one in God. 

There are many ways I identify with God as female.  Our brains are wired to multi-task, our hormones incline us more to empathy and nurturing, our bodies are made to bring forth new life.  These are all good, and have purpose. There are times though that less distraction and more focus is helpful, or our empathy can overpower our reason, and our bodies are needed to be less soft and with greater muscle mass. I think we need to rejoice that God provides so well, instead of being threatened by our differences. 

I am so grateful that my neighbor felt free to “treat me like a woman.”  That’s what I am, and I like being a woman. Ok, I realize that there are muscled women out there and empathetic men, but there are also undeniable physical differences that are typical to both genders.  Jesus is man, obviously, but one of God’s greatest gifts to us is Mother Mary. She felt Life in her womb, held “all these things” in her heart, and noticed a need at the wedding feast at Cana, nudging her Son into public life.  I don’t think it a last minute thought that Jesus chose the crucifixion to give us woman… behold your mother. From the cross, He gave to us a wonderful gift, the sinless feminine.

So, I am grateful that my neighbor brought his muscle mass to my backyard, and my burden was lightened.  I am thanking God today that in His infinite wisdom, He created us male and female.  I’m praying that we can rejoice in God for our differences, rather than tear each other apart for them

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